China Compulsory Certification – what do I do?

The CCC (China Compulsory Certification) safety license requirement by the government of China requires manufacturers to obtain the CCC China Compulsory Certification before exporting to or selling products covered in the CCC catalogue in the China market. Products not meeting CCC China Compulsory Certification requirements may be held at the border by Chinese Customs and will be subject to other penalties.

New product categories have been added to the CCC China Compulsory Certification catalogue(http://china-ccc-certification.com/ccc-catalogue.asp).

The application process for the CCC China Compulsory Certification:

1. can take about ninety man-days or longer;
2. requires testing at accredited laboratories in China;
3. generally does not permit self-certification or third-party testing results;
4. requires submission of numerous technical documents;
5. requires submission of product sample(s) to a Chinese testing laboratory;
6. requires a factory inspection(http://china-ccc-certification.com/642.html) by Chinese officials at the applicant's expense;
7. requires follow-up inspections every twelve to eighteen months;
8. can cost several thousand dollars(http://china-ccc-certification.com/ccc-cost.asp).

CCC China Compulsory Certification is administered by the Chinese government agency Certification and Accreditation Administration(CNCA).

Step One: Determine Whether Your Products Require CCC China Compulsory Certification

First, examine CCC China Compulsory Certification product catalogue(http://china-ccc-certification.com/ccc-catalogue.asp) and determine whether your products, or component parts within your finished goods, require CCC China Compulsory Certification. The CCC China Compulsory Certification product catalogue is a list, originally divided into 132 broad product categories, of all the products requiring CCC China Compulsory Certification.

Step Two: Apply

There are five major steps in the CCC China Compulsory Certification application process. The five-step application process includes:

1. Submission of an application(http://china-ccc-certification.com/171.html) and supporting materials, including user guides, CB reports, EMC reports, regulatory labels and other information.
2. Type Testing. A designated test laboratory in China will test product samples.
3. Factory Inspection. Certification body will send representatives to inspect the manufacturing facilities for your product. They will inspect each factory producing your product(e.g. If your company manufactures Product Z in five separate factories, all of which ship product to China, you will need to have five separate factory inspections).
4. Evaluation of certification results, and approval(or failure or retesting).
5. Follow-up Factory Inspection. Manufacturing facilities for the product will be re-inspected by Chinese officials every 12-18 months.

Step Three: Note Other Chinese Licensing Requirements

Like many countries, China has multiple certification schemes. Though the CCC China Compulsory Certification is the widest-ranging certification requirement, your product may have to meet other requirements as well. For example, China's Ministry of Information Industry regulates telecom and internet equipment, and for certain equipment requires manufacturers to obtain a "Network Access License" and "Network Access Identifier Mark", which includes requirements for testing in Chinese test laboratories. Similarly, China's State Drug Administration requires product registration for certain medical devices.

Thanks to Johnny Xie   Managing Director at QUESTOUD for the information